Brimstone

[Caltha]

In Hermetic alchemy, brimstone is one of the Three Heavenly Substances, one of the primary alchemical Priciples. It represents the strength of will and the vigor of passion, and it is a symbol of the process of fermentation. A smoky, gritty blend, husky and gray.

Brimstone
Brimstone is harsh and grey and bitter like heavy smoke or cold ashes. Yes, cold ashes, it is not a warm or fiery scent. Perhaps even wet ashes, though I would describe it as a dry scent since it's so harsh. Burnt or dusty. However, it also has a resinous or herbal bitterness that is almost vetiver-like, much like Scarecrow which was only herbally bitter and not at all hot or fiery on me. Not long ago, that would have condemned it to the swap pile, but my tolerance for resinous/herbal bitterness seems to have increased as my taste has evolved away from foody sweetness. In the drydown, however, Brimstone gets a hint of sweetness too and become less dry, more bittersweet. Quite intriguing.

[Tess]

I love the scent of wood fires in the fall, but this is probably much less "cozy fire" and more "burn in damnation!" smell. I always thought damnation would look good on me.

 

In the vial - This does smell like fire to me at all... It smells like a chemical burn with medicine smeared on it.

 

Wet - Okay, the medicine became pine. Slightly better.

 

Drying - Ah, some smoke is starting to creep out. This is very much an evergreen bonfire to me or a smokehouse in a pine forest. I'm not sure which fits the image better, as the smoke wavers between the scent of pure smoke and that of smoking meat.

 

Dry (20 minutes) - It's super pine and liquid smoke on me. You know, the stuff you use to smoke meat chemically.

 

Overall - I could see this working very well on someone who doesn't amp the pine like my skin does. Oh well.

[forspecial_plate]

First Brimstone blasted me with eucalyptus. Then that disappeared...*poof*...and it became Djinn's twin. This makes me nervous. Djinn is my first bpal true love, and still my favorite of all bpal's oils. 'What if I like this more than Djinn?'. Worry. I mean, they are almost identical on me.

 

However....I start to detect little differences. Where Djinn is fiery red/orange, Brimstone is more grey/green. And Brimstone is stronger. Actually it's getting stronger as it warms up...not fading yet (I've only had it on a half hour or so). As it dries, the eucalyptus is coming back. And I agree with the person who said there's a coldness here. Overall, I would say this just barely crosses the line and becomes too harsh for me. It has a very sinus-clearing quality. Somehow, even though Brimstone and Djinn are so alike, Djinn is more my speed.

[Eros]

Wet/in the imp it's sweet, crackling fire and smoke. Like the smell of mesquite with fat drippings on it. As it dries there's the deep, rich scent of pine resin and sweet cedar smoke. This is gorgeous! Not a very heavy scent. Stays close to the skin without much throw.

Definite 5ml candidate.

[fiddledragon]

I don't get the association with ashes and smoke at all -- but then, nothing with a "smoke/ashes" note comes out smoky on me, so maybe my skin just eats those notes, whatever they are. On me, this is an intensely earthy pine/vetiver blend. I'm actually not sure what else is in there, though it's quite complex. It's not a fresh green pine needle sort of pine -- it's more of a resinous dried pine sap. It's one of the few evergreen scents that doesn't take over with its sledgehammer of pine-fresh doom on me. It's definitely not something I'd wear every day, but it's a beautiful and unusual scent.

 

I've had this for a while, and only now thought to wonder how it layers with Hellfire. Just to be able to say you were wearing Hellfire and Brimstone. But I went and swapped my Hellfire. Alas.

[aimeceleste]

Sour, smoky, and dark. Not my kind of thing. Pleasant if you like camping, or burning things. Just too intense for my taste!

[Naamah_Darling]

Woody and smoky in the bottle, this is sharply acrid, at once perfume-y and intensely burnt smelling. There's a chemical smell to this, almost like camphor, but it isn't clean in the slightest. Not sure I want to smell like this, but here goes nothin'. . . .

 

On, a resinous incense comes out, along with smoking green wood. It smells like incense strewn over burning coals. A whiff of bonfire smoke prowling through the dark. Bitter ashes and salty tears. Hot iron, a hint of grasses and sweet leather, the smell of smoke caught in hair. Intense, smoldering, and wicked. And underneath, there is still the scent of pride, of dignity, of refinement, and of terrible, terrible strength.

 

It smells more intensely of incense the longer it dries and finishes to the wet, bitter scent of the flesh side of rabbit skin. Weird. This smells so much like my esoteric supplies drawer, full of leather and charcoal and incense and candles and soot. Incredible. And not for everyone.

 

It really must not be judged by what it smells like in the bottle, it has to be tried on, and you have to give it a minute. A lot of people are talking about layering it to tone it down, and it is an intense scent; not one for everyday wear, but I love it.

 

Layered with De Sade this is the ultimate alpha-male power scent. Even my husband thinks it smells like "sex on toast."

[supremegoddessofall]

This is a yellow-gray scent. Fresh on, there's a strong chemical quality to it, almost like the sort of sanitizer or cleanser they use in hospitals. Given that, it's not unpleasant, just not very perfumey.

[UberAlice]

In the imp: Uh, guys, whats burning in here?

 

Wet: Smoke, smoke, smoke, the kind that chokes me a little bit in the back of my throat. But I like that. Let's soldier on.

 

Dry: Pine has started to come out. This smells like how my grampa's lawn used to when he was burning brush. The smoke smell has died down and now it just smells like lovely sweet, warm burning leaves. Beautiful!

 

I do wish I hadn't put so much on and also lit a room warmer in "Fireside" from The Body Shop though...I'm sure my housemate thinks I'm sitting up here lighting things on fire...

[Luhtarian]

Wow. This is different. Very intensely dark, smoky, ashen. Made with incredible skill but I just can't see wearing it as a perfume. It's not, well, pretty enough. Very aptly named!

[steffanina]

Brimstone-

 

In Bottle: Ooh, very smoky, and almost clove-like.

 

Wet: Woo, smoky and interesting.

 

Dry: I've finally figured out what this is--ginger and pepper! I think this will be a scent I do want to keep around and use when I need strong nostril-opening scent.

 

Overall: Quite interesting if not a big favorite.

[euterpe414]

I got an imp of this before (early on in my BPAL exploration) and quickly swapped it away, thinking it was too overpowering for me. Now that my BPAL nose has developed, and I have consented with myself to try pretty much any scent once, I gave my new frimp of Brimstone a go.

 

Guess what, this time around I actually like it! It's definitely a "special occasion/niche" type scent- the strong smell of a burning wood fire and woods. In the drydown and once it has settled itself it reminds me a tad of my beloved Malediction. How did I pass this up before? Silly, sillly me! I don't think I would want to wear this one out to a bar, or to class, since the burnt woods smell may confuse others quite a bit, but when I want to be at home, cozy and reminiscing of bonfires and camping, this will be the scent I reach for.

 

I bet this would also make an amazing room scent for winter, as well.

[themerrybaker]

Brimstone is bone-dry and bitter. I love how un-perfumey it smells. The imp is a definite keeper for those set-the-world-on-fire-flame-the-wussies days.

[gravedigger]

This is really intriguing. It actually does smell smoky and hot - which I didn't think was possible for a perfume. It is very acrid, and it actually sort of burns my nostrils. On the other hand, my friend thinks it smells like flowery old lady perfume. Burning flowers, perhaps.

[mtlaise]

This was described to me as a woody, smoky smell, with (perhaps) citrus undertones, so I was intrigued and swapped for an imp - I love citrus and most woody scents, except maybe fir...

 

This scent remained the same from the moment I put it on: SMOKE! Like a giant bonfire, made with lots of old but wet wood, and the wind keeps blowing the smoke right into your face. It's very acrid smoke, and slightly musty. I usually leave scents on for a few hours, even if i dislike them at first, in case they morph into something I love, but this one I just had to scrub off. I could still smell the smoke afterwards, despite the alcohol and soap. Note to self: smoke is not a good scent for you.

[Elemcee]

Brimstone is harsh and acrid at first. It's eye-wateringly, funny-taste-in-the-back-of-your-throat acrid. And it really is strong.

Worn in the cold, this gives me the image on walking over land that has just been ravaged by fire. Burnt twigs and dry earth crackle under my shoes, and there is a sense of destruction in the air, and a chemical, not so natural danger, too. It's starkly cold and smoky at the same time.

 

After a while, though, it softens. It's still a burning smell, but it's turning into an extinguished campfire, or even a bonfire. The harshness and the danger is disappearing, but there still were flames.

 

It's an interesting scent, certainly, and one that fits the description perfectly. However, I think for me to wear this often, I would need to dilute it or layer it with something. Maybe it would work with one of the Ars Draconis scents.

[stardreamer]

Fortunately, this is not traditional brimstone, which is a combination of the smell of burning matches and rotten eggs! (Nightcrawler's BAMF! leaves sulfurous traces of brimstone behind him... rather like the world's worst fart.) Instead, it's overwhelmingly PINE, with an undercurrent of ash and cinders; one might get a scent like this by scrubbing out a cold fireplace with Pine-Sol. As it wears on, a bit of incense appears, but overall it's still smoky/ashy/pine cleanser until it fades out. Absolutely not for me; this one's a swap.

[medvssa]

In the vial it smells gritty. I would think vetiver, but it is more grey than brown. On, uf! it smells of ashes! It amazes me how to capture this smell in perfume. It is not nice, however. Acrid, very pungent to my nose. Smoke.

 

But as it dries down, the acridness and pungentness seem to dissapear. It softens a lot. And now it reminds me of something... Cathedral? Penitence perhaps? one of the gritty incense blends. Hm, this must be the smoke note, that I don't quite like. I expected to love the incense blends, so there this scent was a dissapointment, I was very afraid of Brimstone, so here it is almost a relief, hehe. But it is still not something I would wear. It is too... sterile.

 

Dried down, I kind of get the pine and incense and wood people mention. This one is a morpher It is perhaps frankincense? It is a lot nicer. And it has a sweetness of pine. I am gonna keep the imp, it is certainly very interesting!

[waternight]

Ok, I've only had Brimstone on for a little less than an hour, but I just can't wait until it really matures on my skin to squee! Keep in mind that I approached this scent with a lot of trepidation.

 

In the imp: Smells sharp and peppery.

Wet/Drydown: Smells smoky. A bonfire image is coming to mind, but it’s not really a BBQ smoky smell. More of a woody, dried leaves kind of smoky. A lot of people have described this as a menacing, brutal, cruel, malevolent scent, but I find it to be benevolent, like controlled burning fires that are set in forests once in a while to renew the forest and redistribute the nutrients back into the environment. There’s a tinge of a green scent, very sharp and sappy. A somewhat herbal note. This just smells like nature, and natural processes. I really like this, a lot more than I was expecting to. Lots of throw.

Dry: The smokiness is calming down, leaving an absolutely gorgeous incense and sappy green scent. I feel like I’m walking through a wet pine forest. It’s all herbal and green and sharp and natural, and I love it.

 

Brimstone is dead sexy. My skin tends to turn a ton of things into nondescript sweetness, so I'm psyched that this seems to be staying green and herbal and natural on me. I'm seriously considering a big bottle.

[penemuel]

I picked up a few woodsy/resiny/incensy scents in an imp pack, and this was one of them. I was so intrigued by the descriptions here that I knew I had to try it. I am SO very glad I did, because it is LOVELY!

 

 

Of course, I also notice all the warnings to only use a little, and my imp has a kind of odd 'sticky' top that suddenly popped out and splattered it all down the side. So much for using a little!

 

In the imp it's smoky and a little acrid -- definitely the scent of a forest fire or a huge bonfire.

 

On my skin it rapidly turns into this deliciously smoky woodsy scent just like a wood stove or bonfire burning pine. The acrid edge to it goes away almost immediately and it turns into warm firey wow. It does make me feel a little wicked and powerful, and I think I've just figured out what Loki would smell like.

 

I think I need to get a bottle of this!

[hepkitten]

Sharp, woodsy, fiery...lovely and interesting, but definitely not for me.

[Shahmeran]

I decided to try this one now because it had such an odd smell in the bottle, and since Death On A Pale Horse changed so much as soon as I put it on, I wondered if this would as well. That and everyone keeps mentioning campfire smoke, and I actually really like the smell of campfire smoke in my hair...

 

In the bottle: FWAGH! Chemical fire! Smells like burning plastic and spilled disinfectant. Not at all pleasant, but it's not your typical flowery perfume smell either, so that alone warrants a try.

 

On, wet: A disturbing combination of chemicals and hot dogs. No really. I smell hot dogs. The big fat smokey ones. I guess that's why they're called smokies. It's not a pleasant smell.

 

Dry: Well, thankfully this has mellowed, but unfortunately not into something I like much. It has become less chemical and more resiny incense but there's still a note in there that I really don't like (wish I knew what it was so I could avoid it in the future...) and which is starting to give me a headache. It now smells more like ashes than fire, a bit dusty, still smokey. The last couple oils I tried, I liked in themselves but weren't 'me'. This one I actually dislike

[glass_cat]

This is one of those frimps that you get and actually put off trying because you're just that unsure about how it will work on you. Many times I'm pretty fearless with new scents and will be perfectly happy to wear one for the first time out of the house or around my boyfriend, but this one... when I sniffed it in the imp anyway... was a little more iffy, so I waited for an afternoon where I didn't plan on going out anywhere or spending time around anyone just in case.

 

I'm not sure how to describe Brimstone, but I can start by saying that this is one of those BPAL blends that doesn't smell a thing like perfume. It smells more like an experience, or like a smell that just happens to be "around". Honestly, this one reminds me of camping and when I wear it, I feel like I've just gotten home from camping, or possibly hiking. It smells very much like an evening in the woods when it's maybe not so warm out... when you're getting ready to go to sleep and the campfire is nothing more than a ghost. It's very very smoky, and where it's not smoky, it's all woods and trees. Although I know it sounds like it would, this isn't something that blows you away or overpowers. It's just... there... and sometimes that's a nice quality for a scent to have. It's actually quite comforting in my case, since I have always associated the smell of campfires or fireplaces with comfort and warm feelings. Actually, it's bitter cold out today, grey, and getting ready to storm, so Brimstone really was the perfect scent to choose.

 

This is not a scent I would have ever ordered on my own, except possibly for my boyfriend. I honestly can't believe I like this! If you had asked me if I'd like to smell like a camp site, I wouldn't exactly have jumped at the chance, you know? However, this is one of those things that sounds one way on paper and is actually something quite different as an experience. I doubt I'd "big bottle" this, since I somehow wound up with two imps worth of it in possession, and this certainly isn't an everyday scent, but this is incredibly intriguing for what it is and is definitely worth giving a try. If you don't like it on you, I could certainly see it making a very nice room scent.

Edited April 13, 2007 by glass_cat

[theseagrows]

this is like djinn without the strange piney-sweetness. i have found a new love, vetiver, so i am kind of liking this. i think it's just vetiver and black musk, or some kind of musk. it's very, very dark and smoky. i like it but can't decide if i could wear it very often or not.

[eatingthesea]

when i first smelled this, i coughed...a lot! but that's alright, it's all about the smokiness. it is certainly husky and gray...but almost choking. i like fire scents, but more when they're more like spicy fireplace-type scents. this one is pure smokiness. and someone in my office just asked me if i was burning or smoking something...at my desk. haha! so much for testing bpal at work! i think this is no. such is life!

Edited May 18, 2007 by eatingthesea